Breaking Down The Single Parent Stigma

Thinking of a heterosexual couple to be the only ideal candidate to raise a child, is a retrograde stereotype that does not hold true in today’s times. A single parent regardless of their gender, sexuality, or marital/relationship status is perfectly capable of raising a child and making sure that the child turns out to be a civilized member of society.

Stigma against children raised by single parents.

To believe that people who come from “broken homes” are the rotten eggs of society is offensive and demeaning to all those single parents who have worked their backs off to make sure that they raise an empathetic and productive member of society. Adults who grow up to divulge themselves in acts against society aren’t victims of the poor upbringing from single parents; they are the victims of a poor childhood, which can just as easily be the act of a family with two parents. Children are shaped by love, affection, empathy, and kindness. These traits are instilled by the role model the parents(s) tends to be. A single parent can on their own, be perfectly capable of bringing these values to the forefront of their child’s upbringing. Ever so often, even two parents together aren’t able to help instill these traits in their child and end up raising delinquents. But still, they aren’t subjected to the same scrutiny that the kids of single parents face. Every time they do anything wrong, the first finger is pointed on the fact that they are being raised by a solo parent as if that’s meant to explain everything that’s going on with them. On the other hand, when an offense is committed by an individual who has a “normal” upbringing, the blame is never assigned to them being raised by two parents; a plethora of excuses are made on their part, with blames being thrown on the society and environment. 

The struggle to raise kids is universal.

Parents of all types regardless of being single or having a spouse; living in a nuclear or joint family; are bound to struggle in raising their children. Raising a child is one of the hardest and longest phases in the life of a parent, and they are bound to stumble along this wearying path. But stigmatizing single parents as the one who solely makes mistakes in raising their child, just makes an already difficult job all the harder. Absolutely nobody likes to be isolated and pigeon-holed in a negative light, being a victim of an ancient and outdated stereotype. This hampers their confidence in themselves and gets them to start questioning if they are even cut out for this task of raising a child alone. This unjust stigma eventually percolates down to the child, who also starts feeling marginalized and conscious about their unorthodox upbringing. They feel as if they can no longer relate to their friends and classmates. This leads to frustration at their condition and this might be taken out on the already over-worked parent. 

How to counter this stigma.

Many single parents abstain from mentioning this fact to society at large, as they fear being labeled and judged with the negative connotations that are attached to their predicament. Being branded and condemned from the very get-go by the simple mention of their marital status is a headache nobody wants. Thus, it makes perfectly good sense why most hide this fact of their life from the public eye. But the issue with this approach is that it only lends credence to this horrible stigma and bolsters the belief of the oblivious, who mindlessly adhere to such a stereotype. It might be asking a lot of solo parents, as they are already burdened with enough responsibility in numerous spheres as it is; yet it’s important that they don’t flinch from the reality of their parenting status. That they revel with pride on how they are managing to raise a child all by themselves, and that rather than be stigmatized against they be given the respect they have more than earned. Being proud of who you are, also makes the child more confident about themselves and makes sure that they are not hampered by any doubts regarding their own identity. 

You couldn’t find a better role model for a child growing-up than their sole bread-winning parent who manages to juggle all arduous aspects of life and makes sure to give their child as good a childhood as they possibly can.

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